Contents

Origin

The term originated on 4chan's comics and cartoons discussion board /co/ in October 2010 shortly after the board's community began discussing the show.[1][2][3] It has since made its first official appearance on a commercial for the show, dubbed Equestria Girls, where Pinkie Pie uses it to refer to male ponies.[4]

Media

This section should be updated to reflect more recent information.

Most media outlets have described the term as referring to the adult male fans,[5][6][7][8][9] with the moniker "pegasisters" for adult female fans.[10] Despite being formed from the masculine word "bro", the term is sometimes used to describe both male and female fans outside of the target demographic.[3]

During a phone interview on NPR's comedy radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in June 2011, former President Bill Clinton successfully answered three multiple choice questions about Friendship is Magic, leading one journalist to jokingly refer to him as a brony.[6][11] The term was used by Stephen Colbert on August 1st, 2011 broadcast of The Colbert Report.[12] Cartoon Network's skit show MAD had a crossover parody skit about War Horse and My Little Pony Friendship is Magic which mentioned the term. Pinkie Pie had baked a cake for the enemy, with the words "YAY Friends" written in frosting on the top, which changes to "Go Bronies" after a blast knocks Pinkie Pie's face into the cake.

Hasbro

This section should be updated to reflect more recent information.

Hasbro recognizes the brony community as "a small group of My Little Pony fans who don't necessarily fit what one might expect to be the brand's target audience", and notes that its core viewership in the older market is predominantly female.[13] Despite being a small audience, Hasbro and the Hub network chose to "salute and embrace all the viewers who have embraced our brand", according to Margaret Loesch, CEO of the Hub and former executive producer of the original My Little Pony animated series.[14] Linda Steiner, the senior vice president for Hasbro Studios, noted that while she hoped that the show would attract a "broader audience", she had "been in the business for 25 years and [had] never seen anything like this."[15] Hasbro.com added a link in December 2011 to its US site's bottom navigation menu, titled "Yo Brony!". It leads to a document containing the 2011 Comic Con poster that was designed with the older fans in mind.[16]